Pinpricks
by TurboFerret
Summary: Busy with rebuilding Cybertron, Knock Out and Ratchet expand the array of their medical services to better serve the growing community. This is not necessarily greeted as a good thing by some mechs. (While you wait for updates you are welcome to pay visit to story Ice Cream which is a prequel to this little gem)


Inspiration is an odd beast, it strikes when least expected.

Also, trigger warnings for injections, I guess?

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\- "Bumblebee!" Knock Out drawled. His footfalls caused small particles to lift from the dusty hangar floor and dance in little flurries around his feet. The most comforting thing about this was that it was Cybertronian dust. They had finally established a relatively safe and functioning home base on the planet and had the exciting prospect of building a new world from scratch. Which was going to be a gruelling task but there was nobody else left to do it.

He heard a little rustle on his left but shifting of his optics was the only indication of him having heard it. - "You know you cannot hide forever." Knockout stopped and sighed. This game was becoming tiresome; why couldn't he be as easy as Smokescreen?

Around 30 solar cycles prior to that Knock Out and Ratchet had come up with their immunization project for the remaining and future arriving cybertronians. They replicated the vaccines against most common viral bot diseases and were set to inoculating Everyone. The reason for such drastic measures (to the dismay of the rest of the crew) was to ensure the survival of the remaining citizens. Or as Knock Out had eloquently put it. – "Don't be a fool. You did not survive the war to die from cosmic rust."

The medics started with themselves first. Knock Out politely declined Ratchet's offer and insisted on injecting himself – he explained he felt more comfortable that way. Before, not being able to inflict harm upon himself he would have had Breakdown do it for him (not without complaint from Knock Out's part) but with the larger bot gone he adjusted and eventually moved on, self-maintenance had become routine. Ratchet administered the shot himself as well because a part of him did not trust Knock Out just yet, despite the time they spent together in the lab. They waited for a week to see if any adverse effects would occur. Knock Out reported faint patches of rust around the injection point but those cleared soon enough. After all suspicions on injection safety had been lifted, they compiled a vaccination schedule for the remaining residents of the base to take place in the period of the following cycles. In groups of 5, members of the crew were called into med-bay for out-of-schedule maintenance and shots.

Arcee had volunteered as one of the first to set an example. She had Ratchet do it while Knock Out took care of the group of Vehicons. Wheeljack had also come without complaint and, having had some maintenance done by Knock Out before, asked him to do it as the younger medic apparently had a 'lighter hand' when it came to making injections.

Ratchet had expressed his concerns about Bulkhead and his willingness to comply with the procedure but Knock Out offered an elegant, if manipulative solution to invite Miko over to 'visit Cybertron and see how bots get shots' or rather, make sure Bulkhead does not wander off too far. That had worked well - the wrecker grit his teeth but maintained a brave facade around his human charge. Optimus and Ultra Magnus did it without any comment, having experienced these procedures before war and were generally happy that now they finally had time for these smaller but important actions. Vehicons were used to the drill and did not pay much heed to that, in fact, some were excited about the little extra free time from their daily duties. This left only 2 bots unaccounted for.

Ratchet tapped the data pad thoughtfully, ticking off the names of the bots who already had received the shots that day and hummed. - "Have you per chance administered the serum to Smokescreen or Bumblebee already?"

Knock Out raised one optic ridge. – "I asked them about their immunization schedule yesterday and they told me they got shots from you." The medics looked at each other and their optics narrowed.

First they tried 'comming both bots but Smokescreen apparently was out on some sort of unsolicited mission and Bumblebee was escorting him? The medics knew foul play when they saw one. Some bots just were more nervous around needles than others. Having been the last generation of bots neither Bumblebee nor Smokescreen had been exposed to a vaccination schedule due to the war constraints. So probably the scout and the recruit were now laying low until the matters blew over.

Seeing opportunity presented to him, the red medic offered. - "Shall I get them?" Ratchet saw benefits to that. For one, they were dealing with two sports cars on the run and even at his best Ratchet could not compete with their power output. Knock Out, on the other hand had enough horsepower to track them down but could and probably would make experience stressful which would interfere with administering the shots in the future. Decisions, decisions… he noticed Knock Out looking at him, expecting an answer, his impatience betrayed only by a quiet tap of his claws against the underside of one of his arm panels.

\- "Under any other circumstances I would agree with you completely but you do not yet have a security clearance for this." Ratchet said regretfully seeing the other bot's optics darken as he lowered his helm, concealing a glare. – "However, I will speak with Optimus and Ultra Magnus and we just may get an exception for this case." A pair of red eyes snapped at him in attention; Ratchet could sympathise. Being an ex-Con Knock Out initially had very little wiggle room, his constraints were being lifted gradually as time progressed but he was not yet allowed to leave the perimeter of the Autobot base. Ratchet did not agree with this because doctor or not the red medic was also a sports car and they did not bode well staying cooped in closed spaces for too long. Since Ratchet was intermittently located both on Cybertron and Earth, the last thing he needed was the only permanent medic on Cybertron blowing a fuse because he could not stretch his tires.

And with that Knock Out got clearance for this one particular instance. He was in a very good mood from the moment he had emerged from his recharge, through a lecture from Ultra Magnus about not manhandling the scouts and not intimidating them, to the moment he reported to med-bay to double-check that his mission was still on (which luckily for him still was the case). He did not even complain when he got reprimanded by Ratchet for almost forgetting the serum.

That was it, with soil crunching under his tires and pleasant wind blowing against his frame he dropped into his vehicle mode and sped away. Ratchet could have sworn that he heard an exhilarated howl over the roar of the engine. The sound would have worried him before but now the older medic only snorted and shook his head. Young 'uns….

The red Aston Martin did a couple of laps around the base to get his bearings and then bolted through a dusty plateau that surrounded their base, letting himself skid slightly on the loose soil. His inner radar was set on the two signatures and soon enough he picked up on Smokescreen. He did not 'comm the recruit yet, waiting for the other bot to pick up on his presence. Surely enough a transmission came in.

: [Hey Knoxie, who let you out?]

: [Thank you for that tactful remark, I just got clearance and I need to vent. Care to race me?]

: [You sure you did not escape?]

Knock Out mentally rolled his optics, seriously, what sort of question was that? Even if he had escaped – who would he run to and where? : [You can always check my status on the common network.]

Judging by the silence that followed Smokescreen was doing just that. Knock Out adjusted his direction slightly to intercept the other bot. Terrain was becoming more jagged and rocky and he feared losing the signal.

: [Ok, yeah… sorry about that, I am not used to you being on our side.] For all his juvenile recklessness at least he sounded apologetic.

: [Same here.] Knock Out checked his monitors confirming that Smokescreen was approaching him rapidly. : [I am entering a canyon; the com-link may become corrupted.]

: [No prob., I got your viszzz...]

The connection fizzled out and Knock Out swerved to see a blue and gold car bounding off the cliffs surrounding the canyon, transforming mid-air and seemingly aiming for the spot Knock Out currently occupied. Instinctively red mech kicked into reverse to prevent the rookie bot from slamming into him. He did not bother reminding the young one to watch the paint, it never seemed to make a difference.

First things first. He gave the bot a once-over, inspecting him from all sides, no phase shifter, good. Smokescreen looked uncomfortable and Knock Out broke the silence after humming thoughtfully. - "Is that a new paint job I see?"

\- "Uh, no. Not really, I think your memory is starting to get glitchy." The younger bot chuckled uncomfortably but relaxed. It was just Knock Out being himself. After enduring Knock Out's scrutinizing stare for long enough Smokescreen decided to break the silence. - "Soo, Ratchet finally let you off leash?"

Knock Out mulled over how to better answer that and chose the simplest way – be cheerful and say 'Yes' to everything. The success of his mission depended on it. – "Yees, yes, he did."

\- "About time, I was getting bored of racing with Bumblebee."

\- "Ah really?" The medic transformed and dusted himself off. – "You would not happen to know his current whereabouts, would you? I thought you two were on a mission." Knock Out tried making that sound as casual as possible. He even started inspecting his own talons.

Smokescreen shrugged – "Yeah, but we got separated at the far side of Axilon bay, I was looking for him and this is how I ended up in this canyon. What brings You here?"

Knock Out stretched his arm above his head in a lazy manner as if he was warming up. – "I'm up for some speed. Racing alone is a bore, especially when you have nothing to lose but canyons seem challenging."

\- "They sure are." Smokescreen reverently looked at the rocky path gleaming with metal sheen.

\- "Well then…" Knock Out pulled back into his vehicle mode and revved his engine. – "Care to show me around?"

They tore through the jagged terrain like their tires were on fire. Smokescreen showed off the stunts he had learnt while being on field while Knock Out whistled appreciatively and focused on increasing his speed. Sensing that there was competition Smokescreen stopped with the acrobatics and kicked into high gear. Surely enough, after a few moments he noted that the Aston Martin started falling behind. The canyon was closing off with a dead end. Smokescreen swerved around gloating about his victory.

\- "Looks like you are a little out of practice, dock."

Knock Out finally pulled to Smokescreen's location and transformed in front of him conveniently trapping the rookie between the wall of rock and himself. – "Yeah, all that lounging in the lab does me no good." He laughed light-heartedly, rubbing his claws over one of the compartments on his arm. Something was off, Knock Out _Never_ took defeat so well. Smokescreen tensed, noticing a small glint in one of the ex-Con's hands. - "H-hey, what's up? You act phony."

\- "Yeah, I got distracted, I picked up something curious on my way, want to see?" The medic extended his hand, offering a small scrap of holopaper and a piece of medical foil for the other bot to examine. Smokescreen took the offering and read the fine print.

\- "Please report to med bay if any of the following symptoms occur…" Smokescreen read to himself in half-voice. – "Knock, what is... OW!" The rookie felt a small pinprick on his upper arm and swirled glaring at the medic who held an empty syringe in his hand. – "What the frag is wrong with you?!"

\- "Just doing my job." Knock Out mock-saluted him. – "Oh, and do apply that foil to the injection site, you do not want it to be exposed."

\- "You damn rust bucket! Get back here!" Smokescreen swung for the red mech but the medic swiftly dodged the punch, jumping backwards and transforming into his alt. mode.

– "Don't be a stranger now!" Knock Out yelled as he sped out of sight of the cursing Autobot. He commed to Ratchet: [One down, one to go].

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Aand cut. If you like this story, let me know. ;)


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